1. Field of the Invention
The instant disclosure relates to a hydrogel copolymer and the use thereof; in particular, to an (acid-substituted polyaniline)-grafted hydrogel copolymer and the use thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, photo-thermal therapy is used to treat cancers or subcutaneous tissue/skin diseases caused by bacteria. The therapy uses a photo-thermal agent to absorb a light with specific wavelength and generate heat energy that can increase the temperature of the tissue to affect the viability of bacteria/cancer cells. For example, the photo-thermal agent can absorb Near-Infrared (NIR) light and convert it into heat energy to increase the temperature of the infection potion. While the temperature of the infection potion is higher than 50° C., bacteria/cancer cells are damaged, eventually leading to their death.
The common photo-thermal agent is the metal exhibiting proper photo-thermal features, such as Au, Ag, Pb, and Ge. The metal has a strong absorption in the NIR wavelength region (750 to 1000 nm) In general, the metal has stable absorption only when it maintains particular shape. Take Au for example, can have stable absorption in the NIR wavelength region while it maintains its shape such as shell-type, cylindrical, or cubic. Nevertheless, the above-mentioned shape might be damaged and destroyed under long-term exposure to NIR. Thus, the absorption of the photo-thermal agent in the NIR wavelength region and the photo-thermal conversion efficiency might decrease.